


Under the Light

by CyberSearcher



Series: Celestial AU [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Celestial AU, Cole is Sad, Gen, Jay is introduced yay, ish, mostly exposition & Sad Times, pinning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberSearcher/pseuds/CyberSearcher
Summary: Traveling on his own for the first time was an odd and melancholy experience for Cole. Even if - from a certain point of view - he wasn't technically alone. Though the teen can't help but struggle to process everything that had happened only hours prior.
Relationships: Cole & Jay Walker, Cole & Lou (Ninjago), Cole & Zane (Ninjago), Cole/Zane (Ninjago), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Celestial AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786705
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Under the Light

Lying under the rubble and makeshift canopy, Cole couldn’t seem to fall asleep. His mind was still racing with the events only hours prior. But it wasn’t the stream of thoughts and muddied faces that kept him from resting. 

It was the simple fact that he didn’t feel exhausted. He glanced to the side and saw Ronin leaning against the mossy cobblestone, hat shielding his face. Cole mentally slapped himself after it took him a moment to realize that the man was indeed sleeping.

Echos sat under a tree nearby, drawing in their sketchpad by the pool. Then another realization hit; how was Echos drawing if it was the middle of the night? 

With nothing better to do, he sat up quietly and walked to their side. They looked up from their work and shifted over to make room against the roots of the tree. Cole blinked when he saw that just under the bark, was a faint pulsing glow. The colour was something between bright mint and teal and ran all the way up the trunk. 

“You only ever see these kinds of things at night.” Echos commented. “Cool, right?”

He ran his hands across the wood, tracing the waves of colour. “It’s beautiful.” 

“It’s certainly a fresh change of pace. Especially with all the red from this m - “ Echos cut themselves off. “Sorry, that was too soon.”

“It’s fine… I’ll be fine,” he muttered. Pulling his knees to his chest, Cole tried to word his questions, “Echos, I didn’t mention it before, but I met someone named Starr in town. They had a partner named Dommie and they told me some stuff about how their blessings worked. But it wasn’t a lot, do you know anything?” 

“Dommie’s here too, huh, thanks for telling me.” Echo's smiled. “And as for the blessings, I do think there's a kind of… baseline for abilities. At least from what I’ve seen.” 

They tapped at their pad - a sketch of the pool, Cole appreciated the detail in the reflection - and gestured to their eyes. “The fact you can see that, for one. We can see in the dark, but it makes looking at bright things a pain too.”

Echo’s tucked their sketchbook into their belt. “I think we don’t get hungry as often either. We’ve still gotta eat - I keep getting yelled at if I don’t - but not as often as average people do. Some in the fam say I’m kinda cool to the touch, but that could just be them. Normally I’m more active at night too, it’s just easier for me and the others. Oh, and apparently our eyes glow too, but in the opposite way to those blessed by Kai.” 

Cole nodded. It was an easy image to envision, he’d seen people with a soft halo of warm light around their faces. He could remember seeing that shine in the eyes of guard captains or famous actors. But in Echo’s eyes, there was a wispy grey property that reminded Cole more of clouds and mist.

“You’ve got a kinda… bright blue shade. It looks pretty fresh, especially with your skin tone.” They said suddenly. 

The teen blinked and he didn’t need night vision to tell he was blushing hard. Echos snorted and leaned back against the tree. Cole decided to just accept the good natured compliment and relaxed into the silence. He still didn’t feel tired, but now with - some of - his questions answered, Cole felt content to simply sit and relax. 

Closing his eyes, he felt Echo’s shift beside him and heard the press of grass under their feet as they knelt at the moon pool. Muttering something soft under their breath, something broke the water's surface, then after a beat was drawn back up. 

Cole didn’t know how this was happening other than through some new sixth sense or awareness. He looked up to see Echo’s holding a small waterskin painted with a silver crescent and after taking a small sip, handed it down to him. 

“Here, like I said, we still need to drink.” 

“You took that from the pool though.” Cole said warily. “Is that alright?” 

“Nobody I’ve known has been smited yet.” Echos joked. “But really, it is okay. The Moon’s got a habit of being more subtle with his gifts. Or you can call it coincidence, who knows. Not like we can ask him.” 

Cole still hesitated, but eventually reached out and took a small sip. There was nothing special about the taste, to his surprise. It was almost plain, with only the faintest mineral smell. 

“So, he really doesn’t come down that frequently?” He asked. 

“Nope. Between all of us - ten, twenty? - I think maybe one of us ‘saw’ the Moon,” Echos made quotation marks for emphasis, “no one knows why, so, that sucks. Which reminds me, thanks for the sketch. You can keep that as a fair trade, you’ll need it more than me anyways.” 

The teen stopped just as he held out the waterskin. “Oh, thank you.” 

Another reign of silence stretched out. Till Cole felt the need to mention another detail from his dream.

“The Moon’s name is Zane.” 

“Zane,” Echo repeated with faint reverence, “maybe someday, everyone else will know it.” 

Cole would have been content to simply close his eyes and listen to the rippling moon pool the entire night, but the urge to find the temple pulled at his chest. Echo’s must’ve sensed it too, they were the first to sit up and began rolling up the mat they laid out for him. 

“You’ll need this too.” They said. “Don’t argue, I can just stay at Starr’s place. Good luck, Moon give you patience.” 

He looked down at the meaner supplies with a quietly stunned expression. After a moment, he simply nodded. “Thank you Echos.”

The teen stepped back, then suddenly threw an arm around his shoulders. It was a bit awkward, but Cole reciprocated the gesture and carefully pat their back. Echos gave him one last wave before he began searching for the trail out of the forest.

He knew there was a packed dirt road where merchants and farmers would come from inland to trade, Cole figured it was the fastest route to the mountain. But just as he pushed through the tree line, he saw the glow of candles from the village behind him. 

All of a sudden, he was a child again. Cole was sitting in his father's arms as he struggled to carry himself and the basket filled with fruits. The memory was hazy, but he could remember trying to reach for a vendor selling blooming white flowers from a cart. 

His father jerked him away, shouting and dropping several of the fruits on the ground. He could remember crying and his father's voice as he soothed him with a lullaby about the Sun. 

Cole grit his teeth, whipping away the tears that dropped down his nose. He hated that those memories were now tainted. He couldn’t even think about them without the feeling of ribbons and rope against his body returning. The teen shivered, ducking his head as he began to walk towards the mountain. 

There were still remnants of calm floating around his head, the sounds of the forest helping to sooth his nerves. He’d never been outside past dark and he expected to feel more afraid. But Cole couldn’t bring himself to fear the quiet shadows around him. 

He walked until the sun began to peek behind the horizon. This time, paranoia struck him hard and that morning, Cole hid himself under a short outcropping of stone and couldn’t fall asleep despite his new exhaustion. After a few small sips of water, he relaxed enough to close his eyes. 

Waking up to the sound of crickets, Cole stretched his hand out, only to brush against what felt like fur. Whatever it was, it kept away at his touch and the teen shot up just in time to see a cotton ball tail disappear. 

At his feet was a little pile of still muddy tubers. They reminded Cole of shrunken potatoes. Part of him wanted to groan about how this wasn’t much of a ‘meal’ but he knew he shouldn’t. Quietly chewing them, they had a plain and starchy taste he washed down with more water. 

This cycle repeated itself for two days, sometimes with different foods being delivered to him each night. Cole tried to give some sort of acknowledgement to the Moon, but none of his Sun-oriented prayers or rituals seemed fitting. 

So he settled with simply saying “Thank you.” to the pale face in the sky after each meal. It felt meager, but at least it was something. Cole tried to keep at least one of each plant he was given and spent some time each night trying to scavenge more for himself. 

On one night, he awoke and was surprised to find that the bunny wasn’t there. Cole decided it was at least a good excuse to find his own food. He pushed apart a thorny bush, reaching down to break off a small cluster of berries. But one of the branches whipped against the soft skin and left a long cut the size of his finger. 

Hissing, Cole fell on his backside and grit his teeth. Cleaning off the blood, he tried to think of something to act as a bandage. His eyes fell to the golden sash that was more decorative than practical. The teen hesitated, running a finger across the glossy material, before tearing off a strip to bind the wound.  
The grass beside him shifted and Cole glanced over to see the bunny standing on its hind legs several feet away. In its mouth was a chewed off stem of what looked like a carrot. 

“You’re a bit late,” Cole waved the berry branch at the animal, “But you don’t need to worry about me. I mean, I appreciate it, but you can keep it for yourself.” 

He hoped that Zane wouldn’t be offended by that sentiment. Part of Cole felt satisfied at the fact he had to learn to survive in this new environment. The bunny only tilted its head, then hopped away. Cole watched it leave before binding his wound. Losing the sash didn’t feel as sad as it should have. 

By now, the forest had given way to large swaths of fields that were sown with rice, corn and other produce Cole couldn’t name. The moon still hung high in the sky, now shinning half-full. The teen gave it a small wave as he plucked off berries while he walked. 

“I wonder how much of this is actually planned. The bunnies, probably. But meeting Starr, Dommie and Echo, did you plan that too?” He asked aloud. “If you did, thanks. Though are you sure you couldn’t have just dropped off a note to my dad? ‘Hi, your son was blessed by me and you don’t need to panic.’ “ 

Cole’s tone was bitter, whatever sweetness from the fruit long gone. He stopped in the middle of the road, pressed his palm to his face and sighed. 

“There’s probably a reason for that too. But some kinda sign would be nice. I don’t know how this is supposed to work though… can you at least tell me you’re here?”

Speaking into the still air always made Cole feel a bit stupid, no matter the context. Whether he’d be praying at a shrine to the Sun, rehearsing lines to himself in his room, or just out of boredom. He spared one glance at the moon, then hid his face again and groaned. Pushing back the hair from his face - Cole wished he had a comb - he resolved to just keep walking.

The mountain was in clear view and the village that surrounded the base was much smaller than his own. Instead of stone, Cole could see thatched rooftops with wider spaces between them. The closest house he could see had a small lantern flickering by the open window, lying near the outskirts with an odd looking thing - statue? - sitting on the ground nearby.

Cole suddenly looked up and saw the small gathering of clouds in the sky begin to condense. The teen broke out into a run just as the first, fat raindrops battered the dusty ground. The distant sound of thunder permeated the air, blurred by the chorus of pounding rain. 

It soaked into his scalp, but it felt refreshing to finally have something resembling a shower. Finally ducking under the cover of the small building, Cole leaned against one of the supporting pillars and shook out his hair. There was a faint, familiar smell of cinnamon incense that the fresh water drained away and the teen leaned heavily against the pole.

“Hey, get off that unless you wanna be the one fixing the roof.”

The new voice was enough to make Cole jerk up. In that same moment, he registered that the pole he’d been leaning on was slightly off canter. Standing in front of him, another teen looked up at him with a plainly curious expression. 

He was dressed in a simple blue kimono held with a white linen belt. His hair was a mess of bright auburn curls - or maybe it just sat like that, Cole wondered - and his skin was pale with reddened patches from old sunburns and dotted with freckles. 

“Sorry, that was inconsiderate.” 

“And who are you?” The shorter teen crossed his arms.

“I’m…” 

Cole didn’t know why he hesitated. His name wasn’t hard to say and there was no reason to distrust the boy. But for some reason, the word stuck to his throat.

“I guess I’m just Cole… just Cole.” 

“Well ‘just Cole’ I’m just Jay.” He glanced down the road. “Did you just come out from the forests? In the middle of the night? With all the skeletons wandering around here?”

“Skeletons? Don’t the guards take care of them?” Cole squinted. 

He’d heard of creatures like them, who rose from the ground and sacked houses without remorse. As a child, he figured that was the reason his father had insisted he always remain inside. But they had the comfort of men and women in shining, gold plated armour and weapons to stand against any monsters that threatened the town. Part of him wondered if they were the reason the Zane was so feared, it was an unfortunate association. 

Jay only gave a lighthearted scoff. “I wish. But at least if everyone here’s broke, there’s nothing to steal. You still didn’t answer the question though, sure would’ve known if I saw someone like you walkin’ above us.” 

“I’m amazed your neck doesn’t hurt from having to look up for so long.” Cole threw back. 

The teen snickered. “As if I wanna look up at your grimmy face.” 

“Says the spotted gremlin.” 

Jay punched him in the shoulder, then gave a small ‘ow’ when Cole didn’t budge. That just made the teen laugh harder. 

“Shut up. Let’s just get inside, you can tell me more there.” 

Cole did have to duck slightly at the lopsided doorway. Their room wasn’t large from the outside and inside, it was even more cramped. Wooden carvings hung from the ceiling and stacks of paper were wedged between baskets and racks of tools. In one of the corners was a set of beds hid with a curtain that Cole could hear snoring behind. 

“Yea, those are my parents.” Jay said. “Don’t worry about waking them up. If they can sleep through this storm and me, they won’t bat an eye at you. I think we have some pie left.”

“Oh, I’m not really that hungry.” Cole stated. “It’s fine, thanks for letting me rest up here.” 

He tried to find a place to sit and ended up moving a notebook off a stool. There were dozens of papers sticking out of the covers, some covered in technical sketches and half - finished lines of poetry. Jay’s sudden exclamation cut through his musing.

“I was wondering where I put that! Finally I can get back to work on that stupid machine,” he huffed, hastily flipping through the book as he cleaned a spot off on the floor with his foot, “where the hell did I put that wrench, or is that the crowbar? Wait, no, I still need to find those stupid screws.” 

The darker teen starred as Jay went about, pulling drawers out that he didn’t even realize were drawers. “How the hell do you keep track of all this?”

“I’ll tell you when I figure it out,” Jay said on his tiptoes, digging a hand through a cabinet, “while I’m at it, you gonna tell me how you survived the trip out here?”

Cole tugged at his hair, one hand adjusting his shirt so it hid the marks on his throat. “Are you sure? It’s a lot.” 

“I’ve got all night.” Jay shrugged. 

The teen was still cautiously warry. He hadn’t seen any indication Jay or his family worshiped the Sun and the boy himself was friendly enough. Cole gave the simplest explanation he could; telling Jay about his blessing, the Moon Celestial, his followers and the reason for him being here. But he left out the drama between himself and his father, stating only that they’d had ‘a bad argument.’ 

Jay cut in with comments now and then, mostly jokes at the expense of Kai or his dad. They might have been in poor taste, but Cole was happy for the levity. It made retelling the story easier and less bitter to process. 

“So there's another god in the sky other than the slutty fox?” Jay wondered. 

Cole inhaled his tea for the second time, hastily setting it down between choking laughs. “I mean - ack, it's in my nose - yea. His name is Zane.” 

“Wow. I knew there was a temple up on the mountains, but nobody ever goes there.” He added. “It’s not usually safe to travel either, too much of a risk.” 

“What do you do to protect yourselves? Isn’t there any sort of guard?” 

“Most of the time we just close our doors until the boneheads get bored and go back. They don’t stick around often anyways. Most of the time.” 

Jay gave a small sigh into his cup. “I’ve been working on some stuff, but… eh, it’s not really catching on.” 

“You mean you’re an inventor too?” Cole asked. 

“Not just inventing, I dabble in some baking, poetry, painting and a little carpentry.” He listened off proudly. “I don’t have much trouble entertaining people so it makes my job a lot easier.”

The teen ran through the list in his head again. “So, are you a geisha?” 

“Yep.” Jay nodded. “You’re the first to actually get it right. I swear if someone calls me taikomochi _again_ I’m sticking my screwdriver up their ass.” 

“Whatever you say, Jaysha.” 

Cole had to admit Jay was funny so he didn’t have trouble imagining him sitting in a tea house, entertaining nobles with improvised songs or calligraphy. But it was interesting to meet a geisha who wasn’t a woman. With another glance to his poetry, Cole could see they were well written too, even if some of the larger words were misspelt. 

“If you want, maybe I could give you some tips?” He offered. “I uh, I was taught a little about formal arts. If you’d like.” 

“Really? As in, proper teaching?” 

“More or less. Consider it payment for letting me rest up here.”  
Cole sat up, stretching his legs and walked back outside. The rain had slowed from a downpour, to a faint trickle. The shorter teen stood by his side and patted his shoulder. 

“Thanks big guy, feel free to drop by whenever you wanna.” Jay's grin suddenly faltered. “Wait, where are you even gonna stay? There’s no inn here.”

“Oh, I was going to stay at Zane’s temple.” Cole said. 

“Really? That’s gonna be one hell of a climb.” 

“Good thing I don’t mind exercise.” 

He gave one last wave to the geisha before jogging back up the trail. Passing through the village, it was filled with a tranquil silence. There were fewer candles and Cole passed no one as he made his way through. Coming to the foot of the mountain, he found a rough cut stone stairway that spiralled up and past the clouds. 

The stone was layered with patches of glowing moss that felt soft between his fingers. Cole could soon see the entire country side from less than halfway up. A soft breeze blew through his hair. Soon, he was stepping through a thin layer of clouds and could finally see the gates to the temple. 

The first words that came to mind was ‘run down’. Moss, vines and crumbling stones littered the small patch of flat ground. The area was about the same size as the first floor of his old home, but the shrine itself took up less than a third of that space. Cole bowed under the tori gates with tarnished silver bells hung between them. 

Inside, there was a dusty elevated platform with a chipped clay bowl for burning incense. There was a room connected by a sliding rice wall that hid a small kitchen and bedroom. One of the windows was cracked and a vine had grown through the hole and stretched across the ceiling. 

Cole gave a small groan at the state of the building. “I guess it’s better than nothing. At least I don’t have to worry about rain.” 

He spent what little of the night was left cleaning out the shrine. The small scale of everything made it easier and Cole found a few useful supplies tucked away in the corners and crevices. There was a set of needles and thread in a drawer, a box of matches, dried rations and - oddly - an ornate stationary set. 

The box it was contained in had silver filigree and a large opal and jet stone set on the lid, carved to fit together like a crescent moon. There was a matching ink well, quill and paper all neatly spaced inside. Cole wondered who had left it here - there was no name or initials - and he thanked them silently.  
Carrying the set under his arm, he sat on the staircase that led to the backside of the shrine. There was a looming willow with branches that dipped into the pond at its roots. The grass was long and uncut, sprouting between the remnants of what looked like a rock garden. Cole could see that the surface of the lake held the same, full reflection of the moon. 

Tugging at his hair, he laid out the ink well and carefully dipped the tip of the quill. He didn’t know why, but Cole wanted to leave something out for Zane to have in return for whatever protection the Celestial was granting him. The idea of leaving out poetry was something the noble characters in his father's stories would do for one another, as sappy as that was. 

Cole resisted the urge to nibble on the end of the feather and tried not to overthink what he wanted to write. He still paused and the calligraphy ended up having small dots in the page where his hand stopped, but he was happy with his work. 

“Zane?” He called up to the sky. “If you can hear me, I… I want you to have this. Thank you, really, for just being here. Even if you can’t _be_ here.” 

Dawn was tugging at the horizon, the foliage around him grew dim and his vision - ironically - became fuzzier. He decided that the bedroll that was left was still salvageable, even if it was dirty, so he used the extra as a blanket. Cole tugged it up so it hid the lower half of his face. The fabric was coarse against his cheek and sweat still clung to his skin. 

He yawned, closing his eyes with a smile. 

**::::**

Zane looked down at the poem in his hands for the hundredth time. 

_I walk under night_  
_As I hide from the Sun_  
_Your silence is comfort_

He knew the teen was only a walk away, but fear still pulled at his chest. The Celestial knew that Kai was still looking for him, raging from the disrespect he’d shown by setting foot on his temple. If it were anyone but Kai, perhaps Zane could have gotten away with it. But the Stars had drilled it into him that the fox Celestial was vain. He had hoped they were only exaggerating. 

Zane re-read the poem again. It was crude in the way most mortal things were, but still beautiful in his eyes. He knew there were only a few precious moments before morning came, so he was swift. A new sheet of paper had appeared on the ground at the same moment Zane’s body faded into the morning mists. 

_There is much I see_  
_My silence necessity_  
_But your faith is heard_

**Author's Note:**

> I have to fight the temptation to just skip to the lovey-dovey-drama-madness that this AU ended up being. I actually might just do that, fuck the continuity. 
> 
> If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I admit, when it comes to these things there's usually just a beginning, some vague plot stuff in the middle, then an undefined ending(?). This thing has been developing as it's being written. Wether or not that's a bad thing is up for you to decide. I'm just here to have fun & hope you have fun.


End file.
